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Writing Trumps Science: Padma Venkatraman Joins the Faculty
Award-winning YA novelist, Padma Venkatraman has traveled a varied, but interesting path (both personally and professionally) to join us. A native of India, Padma is now an American citizen, living in
Jamestown, Rhode Island and professionally, she is Ph.D. in oceanography with a distinguished career as a researcher; however, it is our good fortune that she has turned her attention to writing which she
considers to be her first love. We are delighted that she is joining our faculty and will be working with Kelly Easton and Mark Hughes for whole group instruction and have her own mentor group.
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Peter Johnson to Offer Workshops for Advanced Students
Peter Johnson is a
highly regarded Professor of Creative Writing at Providence College as well as an award-winning poet and novelist. He joins our faculty to present workshops for advanced students. A native of Buffalo, New
York, he earned Ph.D. in English from the University of New Hampshire. His second adolescent novel Loserville, has just been published. His first YA novel is the critically acclaimed and popular,
What Happened, winner of the 2008 ASTAL Book of the Year.
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ASTAL Institute Adds Kara LaReau as Editor-in-Residence for 2009
We are excited
to include Kara LaReau who will be joining the Institute faculty this summer as our Editor-in-Residence. Kara is well versed in all things publishing as both a successful editor and author herself. Kara gave
the keynote address at the first ASTAL Summer Institute two years ago. She will conduct sessions about the publishing process with all participants. Her major role will be to consult with small groups and
individual students about their work. Participants may submit manuscripts for her critique. Participants will be contacted with details for manuscript submission.
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ASTAL Facts
Did you know ASTAL has hosted 88 author visits to RIC?
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Hiroshima Dreams and What Happened Honored as ASTAL Books of
the Year 2008
ASTAL announced the 2008 ASTAL Rhode Island Books of the Year Awards at the 5th Annual Authors' Luncheon on March 29. ASTAL
recognized Kelly Easton's Hiroshima Dreams,
in the middle school category. This gentle, yet moving novel is the coming of age story of Lin who shares the gift of sight with her Japanese grandmother. In the secondary category, ASTAL recognized What Happened
by Peter Johnson. It is the powerful story of an unnamed protagonist/poet who struggles with losses: his mother's death, his father's abandonment of both him and his brother Kyle, and his personal sense of loss and direction. We applaud these excellent contributions to the field of young adult literature. Selection for the ASTAL Book of the Year Awards is based on literary merit, age appropriateness, and a Rhode Island connection. Books are eligible for the award during the first three years of their publication.
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 ALICE PUNG
Familiar and Familial Tales: Transforming those you know and love into non-fiction, fiction and autobio-fiction - a reading and discussion
- Wednesday, February 10, 2010
12:30 pm
Alger 110
Born in Melbourne, Australia, to Cambodian parents, Alice Pung is a writer of fiction and non-fiction, lawyer, and journalist. Her memoir, Unpolished Gem, won
the Australian book industry's Newcomer of the Year award in 2007. From the Booklist review of Unpolished Gem: "Pung's edifying memoir illuminates not only the cultural clash experienced by her Cambodian
family after they landed in Australia in 1980 just before she was born but also her personal travails as a young woman coping with a mother and grandmothers steeped in centuries-old traditions. Throughout her
school years, Alice struggles to cope with being the different one, while within her own family, she is under constant pressure to be an example to her younger siblings. She regrets not being a boy because
her grandmothers hint that all that matters for girls is that they can make a good pot of rice, have a pretty face, and be fertile. She achieves the usual Asian High-Achiever marks in high school, but
suffers from depression her senior year, barely able to appear in public. She passes her university exams, but even in college she feels pressure to conform to her parents' expectations, and feels as though
she's wearing a mask. Pung offers thoughtful commentary on the immigrant experience, seen through the eyes of one who has successfully emerged." Free and open to the public. Funded by the Committee on College Lectures
Co-sponsored by the Department of English, the Women's Studies Program, and the Alliance for the Study and Teaching of Adolescent Literature/ASTAL
BOOKS FOR TEACHERS PROGRAM
Check out our list of books available for use in your classrooms.
BOOKS FOR KIDS PROGRAM
Learn how ASTAL brings authors to RI schools and distributes their books directly to the students.
ASTAL BOOK CLUB
Do you have trouble making time to read the latest books for young people? We have the solution: join the 2007-08 ASTAL Book Club!
WANT TO HEAR MORE ABOUT ASTAL @ RIC?
You can join the ASTAL Listserv by sending your e-mail address to Dr.
Jean E. Brown and indicating that you want to be added to the list.
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